OAKLAND, CA - OCTOBER 27: Oakland Tribune editor Martin Reynolds speaks during a press conference at the Oakland Tribune offices on October 27, 2011 in Oakland, California. The Oakland Tribune announced plans to open community media labs in Oakland with the theme of "Listen. Engage. Learn. Share." The first lab will open in the Oakland Tribune's new downtown offices in 2012 with a satellite office opening on November 1, 2011. The community labs will be places where the community can engage in the journalistic process and will feature computers, blogging stations, wifi, space for meetings and classes taught by news staff. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

OAKLAND, CA - OCTOBER 27: Oakland Tribune editor Martin Reynolds...

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OAKLAND, CA - OCTOBER 27: Mac Tully, president of the Bay Area News Group speaks during a press conference at the Oakland Tribune offices on October 27, 2011 in Oakland, California. The Oakland Tribune announced plans to open community media labs in Oakland with the theme of "Listen. Engage. Learn. Share." The first lab will open in the Oakland Tribune's new downtown offices in 2012 with a satellite office opening on November 1, 2011. The community labs will be places where the community can engage in the journalistic process and will feature computers, blogging stations, wifi, space for meetings and classes taught by news staff. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

But Tribune subscribers will no longer receive a home-delivered copy on Mondays. Instead they'll need to read the paper in an online "e-edition" or buy a copy at a newsstand. Subscribers of the Alameda Times-Star, the Fremont Argus and the Hayward Daily Review will face the same choice.

Bay Area News Group, which runs most of the area's daily papers, on Thursday scaled back its previous plans to merge the names of many of its East Bay publications. The company also reduced the number of reporters and other staff members facing layoffs. Rather than cutting about 40 people from the company's East Bay newsrooms, BANG now plans to lay off 25.

At the same time, the company said it would open a series of "community media labs" that will hold public classes on reporting and blogging. The papers will also add community bloggers to their websites.

The end of Monday home delivery risks angering subscribers at a time when newspaper subscriptions across the country are dwindling, as readers switch to getting their news online. But the money saved will allow BANG newspapers to retain some employees who would otherwise be cut, as well as expand the local event listings, blogs and business directories the company offers on the Internet.

"I realize some people may be upset," said Oakland Tribune Editor Martin Reynolds, who will oversee the new media labs. "But the reality is that the savings we get by discontinuing that home delivery will help us direct resources to other things that will help us engage with the community."

In August, BANG reported that it would print the Oakland Tribune, Alameda Times-Star, Daily Review, Argus and West County Times under a single name - the East Bay Tribune.

Similarly, the Contra Costa Times, Valley Times, San Ramon Valley Times, Tri-Valley Herald, San Joaquin Herald and East County Times would be rebranded as the Times.

That didn't sit well with readers. As a result, the company decided to let most of its papers keep their current names. However, the Tri-Valley Herald, Valley Times and San Joaquin Herald will now be called the Tri-Valley Times. The Alameda Times-Star will retain its name, but that name will be printed beneath the Oakland Tribune masthead for papers distributed in Alameda.